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William Bagot (c1246-1290)
}} ''Collections for a History of Staffordshire, Volume 11'' "This William Bagotis shown to be the son of the last Richard by deeds, 34, 35, 37 and 38 in the Appendix. In these deeds William speaks of his brother Robert, and the same deeds prove that Robert was a son of Richard Bagot. The presentment made by the Jury of Lichfield in 1272 has been already quoted. At the same Assizes, Matilda, the widow of William Wymer, sued William Bagot for a third of a rent of 2 marks in Bromley, which she claimed as dower. William called to warranty Richard Wymer, who appeared and warranted the rent to him. William Bagot was therefore to hold the rent in peace and Matilda was to be compensated by Richard. The rent in question is clearly the two marks mentioned in Deed No. 19, and was originally a chief rent paid by the Bagots to the Wymers. The only other entry in the Rolls respecting this William Bagot is a suit on the Assize Roll of 4 E. I. (1276), by which William, son of Roger de Tunstall, sued him and Christiana, the widow of Richard Bagot, together with fifteen other tenants in Bromley Bagot for unjustly disseising him of his common of pasture in Bromley Bagot appurtenant to his freehold in Tunstall. William Bagot appeared and answered for all the defendants, and stated that the plaintiff had sufficient pasturage for the tenements he held, and free ingress and egress to and from it, and that it was lawful for him to inclose his waste land according to the provisions of the Statute of Merton, so long as he left sufficient pasturage for the other tenants. The plaintiff eventually withdrew his plea. William was dead before November, 1290, for on the de Banco Roll of Mich. 18-19 E. I., William de Tarpele (Tapperly) sued John Bagot of Brumley Bagot for distraining him to perform suit at his Court of Brumley Bagot, against the form of feoffment. As Deed No. 47 shows he was alive on the 16th of September, 1290, Sir William must have died between those two dates. The deeds of this William at Blithfield are very numerous. They consist almost entirely of feoffments of land within the Manor of Bromley for a small rental, for which in every case he received a sum of money as a fine of entry. This multiplication of small freeholders within the manor must have conciderably reduced its value in after years, and have been very embarrassing to his successors. These had eventually to purchase back all the interests of these freeholders in the manor, and it is owing to this circumstance that we find such a multitude of deeds of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries at Blithfield, referring to small tenures in Bagots Bromley. Some of the deeds of Sir William Bagot retain their seals, and these have been engraved in the Memorials of the family printed by Lord Bagot in 1823. None of these seals, however, unfortunately are armorial; they show simply a hawk or eagle in two different altitudes. A deed, however, amongst the Weston evidences shows a shield with two chevronels on it and the legend Sigillum Willelmi Bagod, and this William Bagod may be identical with William Bagot of Bromley. The Feodary of this reign, known as Kirby's Quest and the date of which is 1283 or 84, describes the Fee of Bagots Bromley as follows - Willelmus Bagot tenet Bromley Bagot de Galfido de Gresley 1 feodum militis, at Galfridus de Barone de Stafford. The mesne tenure of the Gresleys in the manor has already been adverted to. Sir William had a wife named Hawyse or Avice, but her parentage is unknown : the abstracts of Blithfield deeds made for Lord Bagot by Mr. Hamper show that he left two sons, John and William, and a daughter Sibella, who married William, son of Alured de Sulney of Newton Sulney, co. Derby. Of these sons, John succeeded him at Bromley, and the second is probably identical with the William Bagot who is named on the Subsidy Roll of 1 E. III. (1327) as holding land in Blithfield."